This luddite votes no to images.
Vox populi, vox dei.
I’d like to at least have it to where the thread starter can decide if he or she wants images enabled for that particular thread. (Just like we do with polls)
That would make picture sharing threads less of a pain in the ass.
My two cents… The board is fine just the way it is…
User Polerius wrote a Greasemonkey script that will let you see most images inline. It works for me and other posters use it. Greasemonkey script to view images inline on the SDMB - About This Message Board - Straight Dope Message Board
We should enable images, but only those of pie and pie related activities.
People would be limited to pie charts to illustrate their statistics, but I suppose we could live with that limitation.
How about implementing a “like” button feature, so if you “like” someone’s post, you could just click “like” instead of leaving a comment.
And how about creating a scrolling stream of new posts-- a “new stuff feed” or “news’feed,” if you will. But only include posts from people you’re “friends” with. That way I don’t have to see shit from people I don’t like or agree with.
Also, maybe an avatar that could serve as a “profile picture” of sorts. But even more than that, each poster could be given a “virtual photo album” to upload even more pics.
Maybe we could also allow businesses and organizations to set up accounts so they could weigh in on topics and update us on what’s new. I can’t be the only person who wonders what Delta SkyMiles thinks of the final season of Breaking Bad.
And finally have TPTB ever considered developing a Farmville app for the SDMB? That would be sweet. I’ve always wanted to play Farmville with Fenris and Shodan in the context of the Straight Dope Message Board.
Thoughts?
Yeah. “Faceboard.” Or maybe “Facepalm” :smack:.
(Yeah, I know you’re joking. Don’t “whoosh” me, bro.)
Basically. Don’t forget boneheaded commentary though. If there were a practical way to limit usage to charts, graphs, and diagrams I would be all for it. But I don’t think there is.
A dedicated image forum would be ok if TPTB wanted to mod it. It would attract trolls and would be imprudent to browse at work, but whatever. It doesn’t really solve the Useful Chart Problem though. And I have little interest in it frankly.
Proposal, one which I am more than dubious about:
I anticipate that the subforum would prove wildly popular.
Why tinker with perfection? (… he says, ignoring all those Board breakdowns.)
FDMB
See how that little picture messed up your post?
Yes, definitely. Also need to update the board software.
If we’re treating this as a poll then I’ll just say No, it shouldn’t.
So you’re saying we should throw the baby out with the bath water?
To what?
We actually dodged a bullet by not automatically upgrading to higher editions of vBulletin and staying right where we are – the databases of the newer version of vB are incredibly bloated and would make the servers work much harder for no real benefit that can be seen.
Board management moves very conservatively on upgrades and we’re generally the latest of adopters. This policy has served to the benefit much more often than not.
If you’re looking for loud bells and shiny whistles, this may not be the board for you.
No.
Images?
Just Say No.
Might lead to playing cards. Or dancing.
Seriously, we don’t need the grief of having to moderate “Goatse” ever again. It’s an all day job just moderating what you say, let alone what you show us.
It is one of those things where everyone loses because of the actions of a few but it’s been proven to our dismay that some things just can’t be. We used to allow people to use html here as well and that led to vandalism of the site … this is another example of that kind of behavior.
The stakes are higher now – where we heard more that people got scolded back in the day for having inappropriate content on work machines – the majority of our users read the Dope from work or school – today it’s more likely you’ll be disciplined or fired. Why should we put people to that risk when we don’t have to?
And we are cognizant of stress on the server and want to have as much capacity as possible so everyone can sign in, read posts, write posts. That’s the most important part here and we’re going to put those tasks first and foremost. We’re not the strongest, we’re not the fastest, we’re not at all cutting edge, but people that want in can generally get in without fuss and that’s as it should be.